monstrous
Americanadjective
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frightful or hideous, especially in appearance; extremely ugly.
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shocking or revolting; outrageous.
monstrous cruelty.
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extraordinarily great; huge; immense.
a monstrous building.
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deviating grotesquely from the natural or normal form or type.
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having the nature or appearance of a fabulous monster.
adverb
adjective
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abnormal, hideous, or unnatural in size, character, etc
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(of plants and animals) abnormal in structure
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outrageous, atrocious, or shocking
it is monstrous how badly he is treated
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huge
a monstrous fire
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of, relating to, or resembling a monster
Related Words
See gigantic.
Other Word Forms
- monstrously adverb
- monstrousness noun
Etymology
Origin of monstrous
First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English word from Latin word mōnstrōsus. See monster, -ous
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
For how monstrous the earthquake was, why was there so little damage?
From Los Angeles Times
The book is about the dangers of monstrous appetites but also about the melancholy of unrealized desires.
Fans last saw the inhabitants of Hawkins in a perilous place as season five opened, with Demogorgons running rampant, along with the monstrous Vecna.
From BBC
Villarreal: He plays the brilliant but egotistical scientist Victor Frankenstein, who creates life with this monstrous experiment, and the result is the Creature, played by Jacob Elordi.
From Los Angeles Times
The dust bunny under her bed is a ravenous, monstrous thing.
From Los Angeles Times
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
